


Shotgun Betterments - a business beyond expectations

by ConspiracyRealist



Category: OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes
Genre: F/M, Friendship/Love, Humor, Jealousy, Secrets, Teasing, Vandalism, hard feelings, more characters included than mentioned, there'll be fluff too
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-03
Updated: 2019-04-22
Packaged: 2019-05-17 21:13:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 10,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14839266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ConspiracyRealist/pseuds/ConspiracyRealist
Summary: Cosma helps Lord Cowboy Darrell to get in touch with a promising opportunity, through which he's forced to deal with a business of another kind.





	1. Bothersome Business Call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lord Cowboy Darrell gets an advice he just can't refuse.

She was getting mad. How dared he to shrug it off like that?

“But I did all the work!! Raymond and Jethro messed everything up!! It’s not MY FAULT they’re such idiots! I DESERVE to be Senior Deputy!”

Shannon’s wires were literally fuming, while Lord Cowboy Darrell watched it rather unimpassioned. There was a hint of a smile on his face.

“If so, I guess you’ll have to try a _little harder_ Shannon.” Darrell said shrugging, having an arch smile on his face.

“That bibble has MY NAME ON IT!!” His robotic sister yelled, as two lesser Darrells were starting to take her out of his office with unimpressed expressions on their faces “No WAIT! You can’t just kick me OUT! I’m not done with this! AARRGH!”

He uttered a sigh and leaned back in his chair. “Back to the important stuff!” He soliloquized cheerfully, grabbing a crayon from the table, when he was interrupted by a familiar voice.

“Hello Darrell.” Startling a little, he accidentally drew a line on his paper

“…Dang!... Oh! Hi Cosma!” Darrell responded in a friendly way, seeing the reptilian woman on the videophone.

“Am I intruding?”

“We don’t have a meeting…” He replied unsuitably plain while putting one of his fingers on his chin “sooo…yeah, kinda.”

“I’m calling for a reason.” She explained calm yet firmly “You know we are very satisfied with what you did with this company.”

“I know! We are actually _selling_ since I took over.” Darrell said smugly, pointing both his thumbs towards himself as the robot placed his feet on his office table.

“The most successful business concern on the market is V&V Industries at this point. Boxmore takes the second place…” Darrell didn’t feel that confident anymore all of the sudden. He got a tiny bit smaller in his chair. He opened his mouth to say something, but Cosma kept going.

“They have been market leader for years. We think there might be a possibility of a merging.”

„… _Merging?!_ ” Darrell put his feet back on the ground rapidly, sitting straight up in his chair…Why?? Boxmore is running perfect on its own! The sales are better than ever!...You…said that yourself!”

Cosma kept a straight face. His reaction was no surprise to her.

“There’s very good chance a fusion would increase the potential of this company a lot more.”

“Bu-uh!...” “I would urgently advice you to avoid potential competitions like these, IF you want this company to stay efficient, Darrell.” Cosma added with a particular emphasis in her voice that made it clear she wasn’t actually advising.

Even though he didn’t like that idea at all, the robot also knew contradicting Cosma could end up…messy. So he just crossed his arms, pouting, staring stolidly into space. The corner of his mouth twitched slightly.

“I arranged an appointment with V&V at twelve tomorrow.”

“…W-WHA?!-” Darrell stuttered dumbfounded, staring at Cosma big-eyed “But-! You-!!”

“Keep up the good work.” She added with a hint of a smile and ended the call.

Leaving him with these words, Darrell just sat there bewildered. He clawed the elbow rest of his chair, causing a bloodcurdling screech. He hit one of the buttons on his speaker. “Ernesto! Bring me my DESSERT!!” Lord Cowboy Darrell ordered indignantly.


	2. Obscurities

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The CEO of Boxmore prepares for a promising business meeting.

„What’s taking him so long?? It’s nearly lunchtime!” Shannon griped, putting her cell phone aside in an annoyed manner.

“Me nye meme ne nyeme.” “Yeah!” “Why worry sister? I’m _clearly_ the winner of today’s competition!” Raymond replied snobbishly with a contemptuous smile.

She faked a laugh “ _In your dreams!_ You wouldn’t win anything with that failed attempt.”

He gasped with indignation

“How _dare_ you insult my chef d’oeuvre!?...You’re just aggrieved because brother prefers _me!_ ”

“No he doesn’t!” She contradicted irritated.

“I am Jethro!”

“What would you know Jethro??”

The siblings heard the speaker crackle, as everybody froze, not uttering another word.

„Okay Junior Deputys! Time to deliver the winner of today’s competition!”

The siblings were waiting eagerly, shaking in excitement for the result, any of them ready to leap with joy and rub their victory in the other’s faces.

“Y’all tried your best to win this baking challenge! But there can only be one winner, which is…” The tension grew unbearably strong in the room.

“…Jethro!”

“SERIOUSLY???” Shannon shouted furiously, jumping on her feet.

“This…THIS IS PREPOSTROUS!” Raymond cried upset, while Jethro on the other hand enjoyed himself as the winner. He wasn’t exactly leaping, but spinning around masterfully. Then he left the others in a dust cloud caused by his track wheels. Shannon and Raymond were coughing.

“For the rest of you, try harder next time!” He finished the announcement.

“That’s done.” Darrell said with a hint of relief. He pushed a button on his desk, making everything that was on it disappear into it. All that was left was a cup of screws.

As the signal for lunch break blew, Boxmore’s entrance hall was quickly completely deserted.

Everyone had left to enjoy their break – everyone except Ernesto. Ernesto 8122 to be precise. He was the lucky one to stay at the information office during his lunch break today.

He sighed tiredly, resting his head on his robotic hand. Then, the purple robot looked around, making sure he really was alone. He pulled a book out which book shelf said ‘ **I am OK – how to overcome your self-doubts** ’. Ernesto opened the book and switched back into his previous position, when the entrance doors of Boxmore opened.

“Lord Cowboy Darrell Sir, your… appointment is here…” A speaker sounded.

“Send them in Ernesto 8122!” He responded as firm as possible. The CEO put his hat in the right place, having an expression of discontent on his face.

Trying to appear confident, Ernesto8122 was leading the guest to Lord Cowboy Darrell’s office. He wasn’t very convincing at it unfortunately.

Even though the corridors were pretty much deserted, Ernesto felt like everyone was staring at them.

Darrell heard a knock on his door.

“Come in.”

The dimmed room was illuminated by the light from the hallway as the door opened...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the open ending, this chapter ended up a little messy.  
> It was part of one big chapter. I seperated this bit, because it really seemed too long. ^^


	3. Perfectly Unprepared

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lord Cowboy Darrell holds a business meeting, but his client is not quite what he expected.

Lord Cowboy Darrell was turning around in his chair, having a grass stalk in his mouth.

Half of his face was covered with his hat, so that only the lower half of it could be seen.

The guest crossed their arms behind their back, wincing a little bit, pushing a little lever on the helmet-like gismo which protected their head. 

“Welcome,” he raised his head “Mister – “

Darrell froze at the sight of the person in front of him, his expression turning blank with a hint of astonishment. It seemed that Mister was no Mister _at all._

He watched the gismo turning into something that looked like a simple hair clip, ending up as a nice accessory on her dark blue braid. 

A smug played on her lips, still standing there as straight as a die with her arms crossed behind her back.

 

“…M-Miss”

“Vail.” She answered with confidence “Cassidy June Vail.”

“…Why don’t you…sit! Miss Vail!” He blurted, pushing a button under his desk. A chair appeared from the bottom.

Miss Vail collapsed into it, causing the chair to go back a little.

Darrell took the cup next to him, averting his eye. This was messing with his programming. The robot definitely didn't expect his appointment to be a female, one-eyed being. It was...super awkward . 'Stick to your plan.' He told himself, clearing his throat.

“Well, Miss Va-“

He interrupted himself, noticing with discomfort that his client was resting her elbow on the table, staring at him with prying eyes...pardon, prying EYE, and a smirk on her lips.

The slight startle she gave him caused a few of the screws to jump out of his cup. One of them landed on the table, rolling her way. Miss Vail picked it up, moving it to and fro between her fingers. “…You wanted to say something?” There was still a small smile on her lips as her gaze went from the screw back to the CEO.

“I believe ya got a deal for me.” Darrell said haughtily, putting his boots on the table with a thud. He put another grass stalk between his lips and crossed his arms behind his head.

The female leaned back in her chair, dropping her gaze on her metallic hand.

“Right.” She said with a crooked smile and raised her eye to him again “I should like to say, what you did was quite _impressive.”_  Somehow, the way she said it didn’t really add up with the wording. Lord Cowboy Darrell however kept staring straight ahead lackadaisical.

“It takes a lot to fire his own creator… his own…. _Daddy_ into the sun and take his place.”

Darrell swallowed, sinking almost unnoticeably deeper into his chair.   _Almost._

He had to get rid of this scene, this memory which had been repeating itself in his mind since he was gone.

Or else it would spoil his plan.

He managed to fall back into his previous expression, saying: “You got that right.“

Miss Vail was browsing the office in the meantime. Her look rested on a big painting, hanging on the wall on her left.  She eyed it up.

“Did you do this?” She asked.

“Lord Boxman did.” He answered unsmiling.

The corners of her mouth were going up again.

“Mh-mh…not bad at all!” The female replied “a bit… _tacky_ perhaps.” She added pertly while shrugging.

Lord Cowboy Darrell’s indignation emerged through an unintended squeak escaping his mouth.

Miss Vail chuckled, while he tried to keep his coolness.

The CEO put his arms back down on the elbow rests of his chair, his hands clutching the somewhat grotesque glass domes of the heads of past lesser Darrells. He faced her.

“I’ve never seen ya around before Miss Vail,” the robot said with a hint of condescension “Who are ya _exactly?_ ”

“Well, you might want to have a look at…”The female began, reaching into her coat and rummaged for something. She eventually pulled out her identity card, better known as POW cards in the hero and villain scene, “…my POW card.”

 She moved it over to him in a nearly generous way, similar to giving a dollar to a beggar.

He darted a short glance at the card and whipped it up. Looking it over, a gleeful smile flitted across his face.

“I gue-“

“Are these guys like… _dead?”_ The female asked. Miss Vail was staring in his direction with a pondering look on her face “I mean…could they…reactivate themselves and overthrow you? Really, if one of the other… _Darrells_ took your place it wouldn’t even attract attention, right?” She snorted, while Lord Cowboy Darrell just stared at her stunned, his lower eyelid twitching slightly. His mind was similar to a bubbling cauldron at that stage; you could even hear the whistle. Although perhaps it was just the signal for ending the lunch break. 

 “Would be quite ironic actually-“

 _“SILENCE!!”_ The CEO yelled exasperated, putting his feet back to the ground. The female winced, but kept her smile.

 _“How dare you interrupting me?!”_ He shouted wrathfully.

Cassidy looked at him with an unfazed expression.

“Isn’t that what you just did?” She asked smugly.

“Sir!”, his speaker sounded, preventing him from blasting Miss Vail out of his office “There’s a costumer on the line who wants to talk to -”

Lord Cowboy Darrell hit the button and inhaled, when he suddenly stopped.

“Tell them I’ll be right with’em.” He said with a sly smile on his lips.

“Duty calls, Miss Vail.” Darrell said contemptuous, looking back at the female “Lesser Darrells!”

“Yes, Lord Cowboy Darrell!” Two highly motivated robots responded saluting, seemingly appearing out of nowhere. 

 “Show _Miss Vail_ to the _door,_ will ya?.”

Cassidy got up, stretching.

“Well, this meeting was most _educating_ ,” She said smirking, as the female threw the little screw in her hand up, catching it with her mouth.

Miss Vail linked her arms with those of the lesser Darrell’s. They looked a little surprised.

“I sure hope… **scrunch**...we can do this again some… **scrunch** …time!”

Lord Cowboy Darrell was watching with a cold, imperious expression while his lesser robots were taking Miss Vail out of his office. Or was she taking them out of the office? It didn’t matter.

The door clicked shut and Darrell dropped his head on the table.  He heaved a deep sigh.

That definitely didn’t go as planned.

“Sir…?” His speaker sounded again. The Call! The robot sat up, as he spotted something on his table that shouldn’t be there. He narrowed his eye.

“Lord Cowboy Darrell? Sir?”

“Put them through, Ernesto…”

 

 

She pulled the door shut.

“…What did you get?”

“The high and mighty type, almost autocratic, quick tempered, immature...somehow.” She told amused.

“There seem to be only two types of robots actually working in the factory. His own and another model called Ernesto. Oh and…” She interrupted herself, chuckling, “He has some serious daddy issues, that’s for sure.”

“Did you leave the prototype?”

“Of course.”

“Good. We need to know what that Lord Cowboy Darrell is made of.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I changed this part a lot. Still long, but I'm much more satisfied with it. ^^
> 
> Here's the link to the cover picture by the way:  
> https://78.media.tumblr.com/ad032405fc63f5e8755764c38e3c8908/tumblr_inline_pc9n7qdoxL1szz5lt_540.png


	4. Collectibles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's a customer at Gar's who's only after the hot items!

  
"Psh!"

'...look at these lofty heroes, fancying themselves.' The female thought amused, as she entered the shop, looking around. She almost looked like them with the long, blue cape, her yellow body suit, black wig and the overknee boots she was wearing. Her face was half covered with a glasses.

'...Let's cause some mischief...' A sneer formed on her lips as she was heading for the magazines. On the way she nearly tripped over a small person. He carried a box in his hands.

"Hi fellow hero I've never seen before! Welcome to Gar's Hero Supply and Bodega! MayIhelpyouwithanything??" The kid asked eagerly, dropping the box.

"Nah, I'm just...browsing."

"Okay! I'm K.O. bye the way!" The little boy held his hand out like a drawn sword. She started to grin broadly, squeezing his hand.

"Woah! You must be super powerful!" K.O. exclaimed amazed, feeling a noticeable electric shock going through his arm "What's your name? Are you a _new_ hero?"

She opened her mouth, before she closed it again, pursing her lips.

Cassidy had to admit to herself that it could've been prudent to think of a fake name before entering a hero store.

"K.O.!"

"Yes Mister Gar Sir!" He saluted.

"Quit keeping the costumers from buying!"

"Welp, thanks for the _hand_ kid." She said with a smile and moved along.

"Uhm..." He looked blank for a moment, before he blurted a heartwarming "Glad I could help!" and returned to his duties.

 

Right next to Cassidy stood another hero, a skeleton. He was flipping through one of the magazines. The girl peeked at him, browsing. He put it back and wanted to grab another one, when she snatched it from under his...skull.

"Hey! I-"

"Oh! Did _you_ want this?" She said fake-guilty, thrusting it into his hand "I'm terribly sorry!" The girl added with a crooked smile, touching his shoulder and walked away.

"...Thanks?" RMS answered confused, shuddering a little.

Cassidy spotted a pile of cans, neatly stacked on the top of each other. There was a blue guy standing beside with his back to it, using his powers to restock racks.

_"Whoops!"_

**CRASH!**

"Aw man! It took me like _forever_ to stack those!" Rad complained as he swung around, seeing his work destroyed.

 _"Oooh!"_ She moaned, putting her hand on her forehead "Oh no! I'm so sorry I fell into your so neatly stacked can tower!" She said in a dramatical way. He sighed.

"It's cool...Let me get ya up." Rad replied, pulling her up.

"Thanks!" The girl said squeezing his hand with a grin and left.

"You're... welcome." He said and looked down at his hand distracted, moving his fingers slightly.

 

 _"May I?!"_ She pushed herself through a group of three heroes.

The villainess strode up to the chips.

 _"S'cuse me!"_ Cassidy uttered, actuating the sauce dispencer while Brandon's hand was still on the lever.

"Hey, watch-!"

"Sorry, those passages are so narrow!"

"...What passages?!" He babbled irritated, before he even could get really mad.

 

Cassidy was just on her way to the counter when an alarm started to blare. Some people started to panic, while some ran outside.

"Welp, let's see what we got today." The counter-girl said, skipping her.                                                                                                                                  Literally, she turned a somersault over Cassidys head and ran outside along with the other two employees.

The girl watched a box landing in front of the store. Three robots emerged from it.

 

"Prepare for your demise!!" Shannon shouted maliciously, pushing Raymond to the side, who growled in response.

"Ha! Don't tell me you're still fightin' over that bibble??" Rad scoffed.

"So Darrell hasn't appointed a Senior Deputy yet huh?" Enid added dry-witted.

They laughed.

 

"No Way!" Cassidy snorted with laughter, spitting out some of her chips. She was watching the whole scenario through the window.

 

"Aren't you guys getting tired of this?" K.O. asked.

"That's none of your benchwarmers' business!" Raymond retorted, attacking.

It didn't take much time until all three robots were defeated. Cassidy could have felt bad for them, but it was way too hilarious.                                                          Plus she was a Cyborg and sympathy wasn't really included in her databank.

The door opened.

"But seriously, what was that guys?? I basically took them out all by myself!" Enid said serio-comical.

"I dunno...I feel kinda...worn out." Rad responded.

"Sorry Enid..." K.O. apologized.

 

'Mh...Interesting.' Cassidy thought to herself with a smug. She threw the empty chips box behind her back and headed outside, before the female stopped herself. The Cyborg engraved something into the glas with her metallic fingers and left, sniggering derisively.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cassidy sure likes vandalizing stores! 
> 
> I've been overthinking whether I should include Enid or not, since she's at POINT Prep...  
> but I decided to skip that. (I love that arc though!)  
> I don't plan to include Rad, Enid and K.O. a lot, but I can't and won't leave them out either :D


	5. Business as usual

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A typical day with the typical struggles as the CEO of Boxmore.

"Hi boss!" he was greeted by another lesser version of himself, as he was doing his regular round through the factory. Lord Cowboy Darrell wore a contended smile on his face, his arms crossed behind his back.

The manufacturing worked flawless.

No registered complaints.

Everything was fine.

And to keep it this way, it was vital to check. Regularly. He did that once every day lately.

Well, twice today. There was no such thing as being too diligent, right?

Arriving back at his office, Darrell closed the door behind him. He sat down, turning around in his chair with a bored look on his face.

As his gaze went to the drawer of his office table, curiosity was growing in his eye.

No! It was best just to leave it in there, along with that card. The robot turned around, staring through the open blinds of his window.

He didn't want to deal with that company in the first place. Even if spoiling things with the _most successful business concern on the market_ meant getting roasted by Cosma, which certainly wasn't a pretty thought.

He WAS successful! He didn't need any other companies to be... _efficient_.

He was _Ace-High_ on his own and _no one_ would tell him otherwise.

But there was no way the head of V&V would want a merging after that meeting anyway.

So his mission was accomplished. There would be no deal. The case was closed.

 

Tictictictictic **ticTICTIC**...

Darrell drummed his fingers on the arm of his chair restlessly.

"Mh!" He leaned back, trying to abandon that subject out of his head. The robot wasn't very successful with _that_ method, unluckily.

'Must. Fight. CURIOSITY...' The more he tried not to think about it, the harder it became to resist.

He started to sweat, clutching his arm rests.

'Must...KNOW WHAT'S INSIDE!' The CEO wheeled around in his chair, yanked the drawer of his office table open and got out a small, metallic box.

It looked slightly banged up...

There just had to be a way to open that thing, some sort of mechanism, a switch to make it do....whatever it was supposed to do. Lord Cowboy Darrell pulled it, he squeezed it, he repeatedly banged it on the table...

"Why ain't it workin'?!" Frustrated, he stopped chewing on the box, spitting it out. The robot crossed his arms with a grim face. "Stupid box...! he muttered under his breath, as said thing started to glow.

Darrell ducked, hiding behind his chair.

Peeking out from behind, he got sight of something that looked similar to a glorb, floating above his table. It was just plain grey though.

The CEO approached slowly, narrowing his eye. Reaching his hand out, the substance moved towards him, glowing. Darrell pulled it back quickly, as the orb-like matter reverted to its original shape, stirring a litte on the surface. He starred at it big-eyed.

"Mhhh...shoulda...?" Lord Cowboy Darrell made a pensive face "One more try cain't hurt!" He told himself with the naivety of a child, shrugging. So the robot reached out again with eager.

When his finger dived into the matter, the orb began to glow again. He watched in awe while the substance started to consume his hand. It felt...funny. He drew it out looking at its stirring surface.

This was surprisingly...absorbing. And for some reason quite entertaining, too.

He darted a short look to the left, then to the right, a grin forming on his lips. Lord Cowboy Darrell was thrilled to bits. The robot looked down on his glowing hand, which was completely covered with the matter now. He moved it back and forth. Darrell felt quite...powerful with this.

"NYE-HEHEHEHEHE!!" He laughed maniacally, playing around with his new toy.

This unfortunately, lead him into shooting the substance at his office door accidentally. The orb etched itself into the door, remaining as a big hole.

"...Darn it."

A familiar face emerged from the other side of the hole, peeking through carefully.

"Sh-Shannon!" Darrell quickly grabbed the box, hiding it under the table. He swallowed. They were just staring at each other for a second "There was ay... _bee_."

"Brother, are you -" Raymond arrived on the scene, interrupting himself as he saw that nasty hole.

"Ou-kay...Is it gone?" Shannon asked, still a little bewildered.

"Yup."

"Good!" She forced herself to smile, as they both vanished from the picture.

 

Darrell looked down on his hand, wondering if there were any more spare doors.


	6. Friendly Reminder

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lord Cowboy Darrell is confronted with an unpleasant surprise.

WHAT?! 

He needed to replay the whole thing to be sure that he didn't mishear anything.

"Since you're absent at the moment, I'll leave this message.

I spoke with V&V. They're working on a project they want show you, so I made another appointment at 12. It seems you made a good impression. Well done." 

Lord Cowboy Darrell gazed at the monitor.

"Good...impression...?! BUT-" he consulted a watch.

_DINGDONG_

"Howdy Senior Deputies! Today's Challenge is to wreck...the Coffee Shop!" 

" _GASP!_ I must get ready!" Raymond leaped out of his bath of roses with a graceful rotation.

"The Coffee Shop?!" Shannon repeated disgusted, sticking her tounge out. 

"GOODLUCK!" 

Darrell collected the papers and markers off the floor and formed a messy stack of it. 

The robot slumped into his chair. Even thinking about the fact that this cocky female would be here any minute dragged him -

"Knock knock!" Cassidy shouted jaunty as she stuck her head into his office.

"Miss Vail." He said, making no effort to hide his frustration.  

"Lord Cowboy Darrell!" The cyborg took a big step inside his office. "It's good to see-"

The door closed behind her, followed by a click of the doorlock. 

-you again!" She finished with a twinge of confusion, as the shutter went down, diving them into a dimmer light. 

"I'll make this quick." The CEO said, folding his hands.

"Do I get to pick how you eliminate me?"

Lord Cowboy Darrell looked irritated. He couldn't tell if she was joking.

"I'm talkin' about this so-called deal." He said emotionless "I don't know what you've told yer boss...but I'm busy with my own projects here at Boxmore," 

They heard a desperate scream from the outside, followed by an explosion. 

Parts of Shannon's lifeless body broke their way through the roof and landed on his table. Cassidy looked blank. 

"I see..." she said with a smirk.  

"To be clear," He leaned back "I cain't be bothered with other companies and the shenanigans of their high falutin' management assistents. So you'll cancel the thing.

Though..if yer so keen to be destroyed I think I could squeeze ya in next week." Lord Cowboy Darrell added smiling mischieviously.  

"Of course I  _could_ do that." Cassidy said indifferently "I mean  _if_ my influence as a...management assistant goes that far. I just hope it won't get you into any  _trouble_."

"What?" Darrell's smile faded away as he frowned.

"I wonder what Cosma will say when I tell her that Lord Cowboy Darrell declined a deal with the most influential company on the villains market. Or that he's wasting his resources to make his fellow robots attack the plaza for fun."  

Miss Vail said that with the most devilish smile. He was wordless for a second. 

"Are you...extorting me?!"  Darrell said darker in tone.

"I'm just saying,  _sir."_ There was a contended look on her face, as she took a tiny devise out of her coat. It turned into something that looked like a floating skateboard.

"We can work  _with_ or _against_ each other _."_ She hunched her shoulders "It's your choice after all!" 

Cassidy left through the broken roof cackling maliciously. 

 

So that's how she wanted to play. Fine. He could use unfair practises just as well. 

Maybe they were the biggest company. But if this was a game of some sort, it'd be his game. 

'Ya'll wish you never made that deal with me.' 

Another crash disturbed his evil plotting. 

"Did I win the challenge??" Raymond blurted.


	7. Kept under wraps

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cassidy shows her social abilities.

„Don't strain yourself Cassidy."

The scraggy figure of a man emerged in the corner of her eye. Even the spite in his voice wasn't enough to get her out of the cage of sluggishness.

"Can't you see I'm too bored to quarrel?"

He snorted derisively, "Perhaps you wouldn't be so bored if you finished your tasks for once." his eyes fell on the stack of paper next to her.

"Really Jeffrey? These tasks are literally the reason for my boredom!" She threw her hands in the air, stirring up some of the papers "I'd even play the maid to for a bit of change. " The cyborg added annoyed, placing her head on the table again.

"It's called CARE TAKER." He snarled "And _you_ cannot even take care of your _own_ mess. The only thing _you_ do is causing it." Jeffrey sneered.

"So that means without me," Cassidy's lips formed a sly smile "there would be no mess for _you_ to take care of. Jeez! Where'd you be without me?"

Jeffrey stopped sweeping. He turned around, his sunken face taking on a rather unsettling expression.

"You want to know where I'd be without you?"

"Actually, it was more of a rhetorical question, my smelly friend!" She replied whimsically.

"Without YOU...I wouldn't be standing here watching my boss wasting high level positions on his bratty daughter, while others are busting their –"

"Jeffrey." A formal salute from Mister Vail, expressed through a short nod kept him from ending the sentence.

"You can finish this later."

Jeffrey followed his bosses order without another word, darting one last withering glance at Cassidy, who seemed to be in high spirits all of the sudden.

Mister Vail closed the door quietly.

"Hey pops! What brings you up here? I thought you were busy in the lab!"

"You'll be pleased to know that I got a call from our latest objective." He said approaching the girl with his arms crossed behind his back.

"About time!" She said with a smug "Hey wait...how did the call get past me?" Cassidy looked confused.

"I redirected the calls to my phone so you would have the chance to finish your paperwork." He explained sober-minded "Are you done?"

"Not...yet." She said hesitantly, eyeballing her unfinished work. Cassidy believed to detect the slightest bit of disapproval behind his glasses, but it was hard to tell for sure.

"So...you wanna tell me what he said?" Cassidy asked, folding her hands innocently.

"You'll pay him an early visit tomorrow. I want you to go inside this factory." He took something out of the breast pocket of his coat "Any information you get will be saved on this chip. Do you know what you have to do, Cassidy?"

"Certainly!" The cyborg answered with a mischievous grin.

"This might revitalize your motivation as well." Mister Vail said as he turned to leave "Tomorrow starts operation infiltration." His mouth twisted into a faint smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since I'm always trying to stick as close as possible to the canon story,
> 
> I really struggled with the continuation of this fic for about two weeks after watching 'Boxman Crashes'.  
> Anyway, I recovered from the loss of Lord Cowboy Darrell (No I didn't, how could these ANIMALS undaddy him? xD) and can finally write again. :D


	8. Another tactic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It can be helpful to change ones ways now and then.

‚Welp, that was easier than I thought. The security around here sucks.' Cassidy thought self-pleased as she lay her eye upon the bustle beneath with astonishment.  
All these robots looked like ants from up there. The cyborg pretended to squish them between her fingers with mischievous pleasure, but it shouldn't last for long.  
Cassidy could feel the vibration of the hit with one of the platforms going through her cybernetics, as she lost her balance.  
Alarmed, she grabbed for her board, preventing her from falling into the deep.  
She was struggling to get up again, when she noticed the incomplete version of a Darrell coming across her way "No...NONONO!"

After crash landing in a box, Cassidy opened her eye warily. While one of them was buried under said box, she was surrounded by Darrell's, staring at her completely baffled.

 

"Now don't get me wrong, it just doesn't seem necessary to -"

"I decide what's necessary Ernesto! I ordered -" Lord Cowboy Darrell's attention was dragged towards the riot to his right.

"Isn't that...?" Ernesto scratched his head "Should we...do something?" the purple robot turned towards the CEO, who watched the scenario with a little, contended smile.

"They got this." He shrugged as they headed back to his office.

**Meanwhile at the Bodega:**

"RAD!ENID!K.O.!"

"Yes Mister Gar sir!" They responded straightaway, saluting.

"How did THIS get THERE?" He asked in a low, threatening voice _"Radicles!"_

He grabbed the alien by the collar, who responded with a whimper and blurted:

"B-but Enid broke a whole box of swords the other day!"

"Rad you idiot! What the heck!" Enid shot back at him angrily, when Mister Gar put Radicles very close to the inside of the front window of the bodega.

"You...suck..." The alien read the engravement out, starting to chuckle. He was cut short by Gar tightening the grab of his collar.

"Why did none of you notice that?!" He yelled.

"We're sorry Mister Gar..."

"You better be! You need to pay more attention! ... I gotta make some calls..." He murmured angrily as he stomped to his office.

"I wonder who did this..." K.O. said with slight concern in his voice "I mean...no hero would do this to the bodega, right?"

"I dunno K.O." Enid said unfazed "But I do know that I'll end YOU if you ever rat me out again!" she added raising her voice and poked the alien in his ribs.

"Hey! I...panicked, okay?!" Rad defended himself.

"...And it couldn't be one of us!" K.O. kept thinking.

"Don't sweat it kiddo...He'll just have it changed." Enid said, trying to get his thoughts off the topic "We better get back to work."

"Yeah, before he gets even angrier...c'mon twerp! Help me with these stacks." Rad said.

**Back at Boxmore:**

"Ugh!" Cassidy was dropped on the bottom rather ungently, as the two robots left the office.

"Looks like you got yerself in a little _trouble_ , Miss Vail." Lord Cowboy Darrell looked at the slightly charred female with a big, sardonic grin.

"Just a slight miscommunication!" She got up, wiping the dirt off her clothes "It was no big deal."

"Funny ya mention it," he made a chair appear right under her, so that she was forced to take a seat "Why don't ya tell me about that big project yer workin' on?"

"With pleasure." That was when she spotted something interesting right next to him on the table "But first...what's that button for?"

Darrell darted a glance at it. He narrowed his eye. Was this a trick question? Another one of her random interjections to distract him! But it wouldn't work this time, he – looked staggered, seeing her finger on this button.

"Watching your inner monolog was getting kinda boring." 

"STOP that!" Darrell snatched it from the table.

"So _this_ is how you attack the plaza!" Cassidy said with sudden eager, as she saw the box falling from the skies "...Lemme push it again!"

"NO! I push this button! Now tell me about this project!" The robot retorted sharply "...Or I throw ya to my lesser Darrell's!" he added with a maniacal grin.

While she was watching the fight between the robots and the heroes, an idea popped into her mind.

"Say," her mouth twisted into an evil grin "have you ever tried another tactic?"

She could basically see the gear wheels working behind his eye.

"Another...tactic?" He repeated nearly scandalized, as if it was disgraceful to think about that. And yet, it woke curiosity. Darrell came a bit closer, putting the button back on the table.

"Like what?"

"Like a super weapon combining the powers of every hero around the plaza." She answered with dark delight.

Lord Cowboy Darrell gave her an askance look.

"I'm sure _Cosma_ wouldn't like that idea at all." He said with contempt, crossing his arms.

"This is different," Cassidy said with a crooked smile "you'd use the plaza to test our new weapon, so it's for business purposes. It's like killing two birds with a stone! Only with heroes...and weapons."

He didn't like to admit it, but this idea sounded half as bad. He didn't trust Miss Vail and her weird...ways, but perhaps there was a use for her after all...

"What da ya say?" Cassidy asked, reaching out.

...And if anything went wrong, he could just blame it on her...

"Deal." An evil grin flashed his face as he shook her hand.


	9. Duty Calls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lord Cowboy Darrell tries to clear up an urgent matter with a valued costumer when the conversation takes a surprising turn.

A certain name made Darrell sit up in his chair. He raised his eye to Ernesto.

“I’ll take care of him right now!” he said, urgently picking up the telephone.

His snap decision caused Ernesto to be at a loss for a moment, since it was messing with the automated task of perusing the list of costumer’s complaints.

“Oh,” He uttered perplexed and lowered his papers “Well, as you wish. I guess I’ll just …come back at a later time then?”

“You do that Ernesto.” He said, assuming a firm attitude. Lord Cowboy Darrell watched his brother leave and turned to the phone in his hand. His self-confidence seemed to have gotten a lot smaller all of the sudden.

‘Okay…that might be a little weird, but… he’s on the list, right?’ he thought trying to stifle the unpleasant feeling that came up with the task.

He couldn’t just ignore a costumer, after all –  it was his duty as a CEO to keep all of them satisfied, so he was basically just doing his job.

Darrell braced up and dialed the number in. It was just a business call, nothing more.

 

The Professor appeared on the vidphone. Since he was dressed in full lab rig, Darrell was obviously interrupting in the middle of his experiments. It didn’t make him feel very professional, yet he inhaled to speak.

“Hello Professor Venomous! This is Lord Cowboy…Darrell. You…remember me, right?” The robot said, unable to fully hide his self-consciousness.

“Here’s that liquid fertiliza you wanted, Boss!”

“Thank you, Fink.” Venomous darted a glance at Darrell, then giving his full attention back to his experiment.

“I’ve read about that on the newspaper…”  His words were followed by a short moment of awkward silence. In the meantime, Fink pulled herself up the table to get a better view which quickly backfired on her. She slipped and landed on the ground.  “Ou!”

“Why are you calling?” He asked calmly.

“I …noticed your listed as dissatisfied. It says that there’s a shipment you never got.”

“Ah yes…Boxman’s shipment. I already forgot about that.”  He simply said.

“Well, since I’m in charge now, I wanted to indemnify ya for the trouble.” Darrell said, regaining his self-confidence.

“To be honest, –“ Both their attention was dragged towards the clanking noise caused by Fink in the background. She nearly broke some glasses during her making faces at Darrell behind Venomous back.

“Fink please…” Venomous said to his minion with slight annoyance “Why don’t you go play some videos game?”

The rat was gone in a flash, leaving nothing behind but a cloud of dust.

“I…don’t really have a use for that anymore to be honest.”  The Professor continued.

“Perhaps…there’s something else we can do?” Darrell asked. There was a strangely desperate undertone in his voice as he clutched his arm rests tighter.

“Sure, just… pay me off or something.” He said with a shrug.

Darrell swallowed nervously. If he didn’t ask now, Venomous would just end the call and he would probably never get a chance like this again.

“Great! …Uhm…speaking of Boxman”, The robot looked down on his hands awkwardly, which appeared to be very indecisive about what position they should take “I was wondering…”

For the first time within the conversation a little bit of Venomous’ apparently unswerving, sincere calmness slipped away.

His eyes were still fixed on his work, but there was an uneasiness becoming visible in his face.

“I need to finish this.” He said, pulling his mouthpiece in front of his face again.

“I know yer very busy! But,” Lord Cowboy Darrell said, feeling troubled“...It’s just that I…haven’t seen m…Lord Boxman for a while now and I thought that _you_ might…by any chance have seen him perhaps.” He put his fingertips together sheepishly.

Venomous’ eyes wandered to and fro on his table as if he lost his spot to focus on. He screwed up his face a little, touching his forehead, so that one could think something pained him. The Professor gave out a sigh.

“You see, I-“

His voice was torn apart by an interference.

“Hey Cowboy Lord!” An all too familiar face appeared on the vidphone, leaving him in utter disbelieve for one moment, which quickly turned to anger.

“Miss Vail?! …Get off ma vidphone!!” He snapped at her.

“What did you say?” The Professor looked confused for a moment, as the signal switched back to him. Darrell just stared at him wide eyed.

“No, I didn’t mean-!“ He stuttered desperately.

“I’ve got work to do.” Venomous turned his attention back to his experiments, shaking his head with slight irritation, before his image disappeared completely and was replaced by Cassidy’s.

“Now…that’s better! I need to show you something!” she said in a roguish way, approaching the camera.

His short period of bitter disappointment was covered by harsh disapproval.

“WHAT do ya  think yer doing?!”

“What does it look like??” she rolled her eye with annoyance “You weren’t answering your phone, so I hacked into the signal. Just come to the back exit!” And with these words, she was gone again. At least from the vidphone.

Uttering noises of anger, he just turned away stubbornly, staring at the wall with a grim face.

“TSK!” He didn’t even think about moving from his place. She could wait forever if she wanted.

“There!” Darrell pushed a button to block all calls. If she tried to call again, it wouldn’t work. A smug smile appeared on his lips.

She’d probably just…walk straight into Boxmore, turning up in his…office. And if he barred the door, she’d find another way to enter. But maybe she’d just go into the factory, putting up a riot to make the lesser Darrell’s destroy more inventory just to irk him.

These stressful thoughts made his smile slowly vanish from his face.

“Lesser Darrell’s!...I need one of you to watch my place for a few.”

 

What was she even thinking? Making him walk outside like an… _ordinary robot!_ And without an appointment! Unlike her, he had important things to do.

He’d so tell that Cosma. Or better, her father! Darrell stepped outside the door.

“That better worth it or –“

Within the next second he found himself on the front seat inside a van.

“So whaddayathink?”

Lord Cowboy Darrell was short before screaming for Shannon, because he was deadly sure that he was being kidnapped by a stranger. That was until he realized that it was just Miss Vail next to him.

“Wh-! When did you get changed?!” He asked, staring completely baffled at her appearance. Her eye was covered behind her hair and she was dressed with a grey shirt, green pants and a red vest.

“I got ya one too!” She just put it on him and before he knew he was wearing a very similar outfit, only instead of a shirt he had a hoody and a glasses to cover his eye. He was speechless, looking down at himself.

“Ummm…the hat could be a problem.” She pondered, giving him a once-over “You’ll have to lose it.”

“…I ain’t losin’ anything Missy!” Darrell snarled and backed off, holding on to his hat with both hands “What in blazes is goin’ on here?!?” he added while he was trying to get out off the clothes Cassidy forced him into.

“Duh! We’re destroying the plaza!” Cassidy answered with dry sarcasm and set off with squealing wheels.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	10. by Hook or Crook

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darrell and Cassidy go on a mission to destroy the plaza together and it's full of surprises.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took WAY TO LONG.  
> WHY ARE YOU PUNISHING ME?? *corn god shrugs in the distance*

Darrell unglued himself from the car seat, desperately considering if it was to late for screaming.

"But- You can't just-!" he stammered, digging his fingers into the upholstery.

"I guess I'll do the talking." Cassidy said with a smirk "While I'm keeping the boss distracted, you can take our delivery to the back." Making air quotes with her hands, she emphasized the word in a mysterious way. The wheel slowly turned to make its way to the left as the transporter jumped the curbstone "I even got one of these pushcarts!" She added with joy.

The little impact was enough for the robot to snap out of his state of shock, realizing that he had to do something, anything. That was when he noticed something equally upsetting.

"M-my digniddy!!" Lord Cowboy Darrell shouted, feeling the bare nothingness on his head with pure horror.

"Oh, good! You lost the hat." The female said blithely, eyeballing him "You'd better hood up if you don't want to be regocn – WOAH!"

"NO!!"

Cassidy tried to get a hold of her seat to avoid flying out of it, when Darrell yanked the wheel to the right.

"What are you doing??" She asked with a start.

"We're going back!" He retorted, trying to turn the vehicle around.

"What?!...But I-!" Cassidy's bafflement was quickly replaced by determined resistance as she grabbed the wheel, pulling it back into her direction "I have a plan!"

Their little disagreement made both completely disregard the fact that they were headed straight for the bodega.

"Give me the wheel!!" He growled furiously tugging at it.

"Stop that...nonsense! We're almost...!" She said making an effort to hold against.

The screaming of fearful heroes, jumping out of the way, caught their attention. While he didn't seem to be greatly concerned by that, Cassidy stood on the brakes, only just managing to stop right in front of the entrance with screaming tires.

Coming off the widescreen, they fell back into their seats. Still a little rattled, Cassidy blinked "Good thing we're disguised as a delivery car." The cyborg relieved sigh, folding her hands as she tried to regain her coolness.

"FINE! Let's just get this over with!" Darrell grunted, throwing his hands in the air. He sat slumped down in his car seat like a grumpy sack of bolts. She looked at him blankly, narrowing her eye. Cassidy inhaled but stopped herself before speaking her thoughts aloud. This wasn't going as planned already and she refused to waste any more time on unlooked for events.

So she put an extra layer of mirth over her face.

"Great!" Her voice cracked a little bit, as she hopped out of the car. Lord Cowboy Darrell sat up, turning around. He was fishing for his cowboy hat, when his angry eye fell on something else.

While Cassidy was walking ahead of him, Darrell followed with the pushcart carrying some boxes – including the bomb. The robot looked around.

He had been here so often to fight the heroes, but never entered the store itself. It made him feel uncomfortable. But that was probably just how one was supposed to feel in enemies territory, quite apart from all the failures and the following consequences that were linked with this place, from which he was doomed to remember every single one.

He frowned behind his glasses.

Of course Miss Vail didn't have to worry about any of this. She was quite the dabster after all and never failed at anything. She could fancy herself all she wanted...that highbrow had no idea about –

"YOU'RE LATE!"

Mister Gar's booming voice interrupted his thoughts rather ungently.

"Sorry sir, we came as fast as we could!" responded in her pert, dry witted way, hunching her shoulders. Darrell looked away, just to eliminate any possibility of eye contact with her. He was persistently keeping the disgruntled look on his face, stubbornly pushing the cart forward.

"At least you managed to stop in front of the shop this time! Where are the other two?" He asked, while Cassidy handed over the fake delivery bills.

"They're sick. A really nasty case of super inflammable super bloating." The female explained.

"Kids and their novel sicknesses these days!" Gar said, expressing his lack of understanding through slight headshaking "Hey, just a moment!" He held Darrell back by grabbing his shoulder. The robot stopped dead, his fear making him as stiff as a statue. He had been beaten up by Gar quite a few times, but it was an especially painful experience every time.

Cassidy pursed her lips nervously.

"Take this to the back for me, will ya laddie?" He dropped another package on the push cart with a grin "Just leave it on the ground." He sent him away with a pat on the back so energetic, that Darrell nearly fell over. The robot curled his mouth with irritation, quickly walking away.

Laddie. This sent shivers down his circuits.

Lord Cowboy Darrell clenched his teeth angrily looking down on the packages he kicked forward. He should be the one to give the orders. Right now he was supposed to be in his office, watching all of this from a save distance. He was going to use her to destroy the plaza, not the other way around.

His grasp got tighter.

This was just another proof that Miss Vail couldn't be trusted. He looked back over his shoulder, quickly vanishing behind one of the shelves.

...But he wouldn't let her have this one.

Darrell reached into his pocket, pulling out the detonater he found in the back of the car. He just had to push the button and the bomb would destroy the bodega and everything in it...

The robot lay his finger on the button.

He'd just return to Boxmore in a new body. One push and Miss Vail would be no more...Darrell screwed his mouth up into a diabolic grin.

"Excuse me mister delivery man sir," the sound of a familiar voice right behind his back let made him wince, nearly dropping the detonater "I don't wanna bother you, but you got it wrong. The chewing gum is over there." His finger pointed to the shelf diagonally across from them. Darrell's dumbfounded look went to the label on the packages. Super protein gum. He hadn't even paid any attention on that.

"Think again!" He said mockingly, his grin returning as he wrapped the kid up with his lasso.

"D-Darrell??" He gasped in shock.

"It's Lord Cowboy Darrell now!" He said, replacing the hood on his head with his cowboy hat.

"But, what are you doing...here?? And why...are you a delivery man?" He said short winded due to the rope nearly suffocating him.

"Because I got an explosive delivery for ya!" He said mischievously "NYEHEHEHE!"

"...And here, and here and over there...and –" Cassidy interrupted herself, noticing there were no more fake papers for Gar to sign. While it was much to her misfortune, Mister Gar's irritated face showed some relief.

She hadn't planned it to take that long. If her face hadn't been half covered, one could have noticed the slightly troubled look on it.

"Your buddy sure takes his time." Enid stated from her counter, her bored eyes barely leaving the phone in her hand – to crown it all.

"Yeah he's...eccentric! You know," She slowly moved from her spot "I might...go check!" Cassidy forced herself to smile as she pointed into the backs direction, closing the remaining space with a big step and dashed off.

"There's no time for this..." she harrumphed. What could possibly take him so long? This place wasn't even big enough to get –

"Say goodbye to your precious –" Darrell was cut off as the attention was rudely taken by Cassidy's appearance.

"There you are! We better get going before..." The cyborg slowed down as they looked at each other, their faces lacking any expression for a second. Her eye went to the gagged child "...people get..." and then to the button in his hand, not even having changed his triumphant pose. As the information slowly sank into her data bank, Cassidy's voice loosed all significance "su...spicious."

"Nobody's goin' anywhere!" He said wickedly, wrapping her up the same way he did with K.O. and placed her roughly next to him.

'Crap.' She thought to herself. Cassidy furrowed her brow, lowering her head, a hunch of shame on her cheeks. 'This shouldn't surprise me...'

Yet she didn't see it coming. She had been too busy setting this mission up. All that excitement of doing something real for once made her disregard everything else...or she was just a little too used to not facing consequences.

Lord Cowboy Darrell noticed her change of mood with gleeful gratification when he bend down.

"What's wrong Miss Vail? Did I spoil your perfect pwan?" he teased, placing his finger on his chin with mock innocence. "Not so confident anymore, are ya?" Darrell returned to his superior position, arms akimbo as he laughed maniacally.

Miss Vail decided to keep quite. Maybe it was because she really wasn't feeling very confident at the moment, or perhaps she was challenged to find a way out of this. And, being perfectly aware that she was in a pretty unfortunate situation and that she urgently had to think of something, Cassidy found herself distracted. Somehow, this devilish joy of his was strangely captivating, almost impossible not to find it enjoyable.

Meanwhile, K.O. used the distraction to attempt freeing himself by moving to and fro a little to loosen the rope – surprisingly with very low success. At the same time, inside his head someone seemed to hit their head repeatedly on an imaginary table.

He had so many questions. Who was Miss Vail? Why was Darrell so eager to destroy her? And...why did he bring his cowboy hat? But there was no time and no breath for this.

"I guess you were right about that bird thing, only with weapons heroes and...a wannabe villain!" He poked her forehead.

Almost. The cyborg returned to reality, dropping her focus on his feet.

"Touché." Cassidy said, bending her head a little to express her giving in. Lord Cowboy Darrell looked peerie for a moment. "I guess you've won," she continued "I mean, I literally can't make a move here." His mouth formed a small, v-shaped smile.

"Except THIS one!" She shouted vigorously, kicking at his legs. It didn't only knock him off his feet but also the smile from his face.

"Ugh!" Hitting the floor, the detonater slipped out of his hand, skidding away. Cassidy used the few seconds the action bought her to rob herself towards the button. She wasn't going to let him pull himself out that easily. The two of them would end this mission, whether he wanted or not.

Cassidy's hand tried to make its way into her pocket. 'C'mon, c'mon...!'

Darrell bobbed up snarling and launched into attacking her. He missed due to the activation of her board, bursting her free. Cassidy quickly grabbed her board, only just managing to dodge the next attack. The lasso coming her direction made her jump to her feet.

He wasn't actually even aiming for the cyborg anymore, but rather for the button which was dangerously close to her. Nevertheless, he couldn't help taking great delight to the little dance her dodging hops were creating as his face started to lighten up with mischievous glee, aiming at her feet on purpose this time...and the following times.

"NYAHAHAHAHAHA!"

K.O. watched all of it with confusion. He had no idea what was even going on anymore. Peeking left and right, he decided to use the situation to drop himself, rolling his way out of the situation. 

The little dance ended with Cassidy stumbling and landing on the ground. She reached for the button, being only inches away, before he snatched it.

In the meantime, Enid heard a dull sound when something hit the counter. Her unfazed eyes took a peek down, changing drastically when she noticed what it was.

"G---uys!"

"K.O.!" She jumped down to untie him.

"Dude! What happened to you??" Rad asked shocked.

"H-he..." the kid wheezed, trying to gather breath "h..as a b-omb."

"WHAT?!"

"Face it, you stand no chance against me!" He said looking down with an malicious grin and his gun pointed at the cyborg. She heard the alarmed voices of the heroes in the distance. He didn't even seem to bother about getting caught "I mean...you're not even heeled are ya?"

While he was laughing at her, she tried to push that slight, rising up inside her chest back, along with the lack of knowing some of the vocabulary he was using. His laugh was interrupted by a hit right in the face.

Darrell shook the irritation out of his head, seeing the board floating above him, the cyborg on top of it.

"I beg to differ, milord!" She said with a cheeky grin, holding the detonater. He angrily latched to the board.

"You're not flying off this time!" He shouted fiercely.

"Of course not...at least not alone." She said still grinning and took off. 

"WHAT? W-WAIT! NO!" He watched the growing difference to the ground with desperation. Turning around, he pulled himself up a little. Darrell grabbed Cassidy's leg and gave it a tug, foiling her attempt of getting up.

"Wah!" Losing balance she fell forwards, automatically clutching the front of her board, leaving both of them hanging. The detonater which had been safely in her hand a minute ago was now only just held by her fingertips and the board, slowly slipping away.

Lord Cowboy Darrell, being half on top of the board, reached for the button when he uttered a slightly insane, victorious tee-hee. Unfortunately his fingers were only the kiss of death for it, when he failed to get its grasp.

"NOOO-!" he cried, as they watched it falling into the deep.

"...All the effort..." Cassidy said, disappointment changing her face. Gone.

Before they had the chance to take any action, they found themselves trapped in a purple forcefield.

"Don't worry, Radicles got the - OUCH!" Rad was interrupted in his self-praise when something hit his head. K.O. remembered the object, landing right next to him clearly.

"Wait, Is that-"

"It's the bomb button thingy!!" He blurted alarmed, as something in their vicinity started beeping. They exchanged startled looks.

"RUN! We need to get away from-!" Enid grabbed her friends, trying to make a move as quickly as possible.

The enormous blast wave catapulted Cassidy and Darrell out of the bodega.

Coming to himself, the first thing he saw was her, being around one meter away from him. He bobbed up, but stopped in the middle of his movement, his look following the object of her bewilderment.

"Look at this...mayhem..." She said lowly, more to herself than to him. Overwhelmed, Cassidy watched the degree of the destruction they caused. The whole place was falling apart...literally.

"It...worked. It..."

She looked in his direction with slight confusion, seeing the amazed, almost dignified expression on his face. His pupil had grown at least the tenth size.

"F-father would be so proud..." the robot said feebly. While a tear formed in his eye he started smiling vaguely, eventually bursting into evil laughter.

Cassidy chose to abandon her irritation, inviting herself to share this moment.

So for a few seconds, they both sat in that tree, branded by the explosion, laughing about their destructive handiwork. Her laughing started to fade when she noticed that his was growing into convulsive sobbing however.

"I DEYTROYED THE PLAZA AND HE DIDN'T EVEN SEE!!" He yelled. His desperation was accompanied with immense rage. The cyborg startled and looked around, grabbing her board.

'Geez...we only just escaped from being captured...'

Cassidy didn't know what was supposed to be more unsettling, that she sat right next to someone who just tried to destroy her or that the one that just tried to destroy was now...well, like this.

She wasn't even sure what it was. Was he...angry or sad? She was way to confused to put any pieces together right now. It was just really...weird. Why wouldn't he enjoy the achievement like she did? 

"So what?" She said shrugging, trying to drown the mood of the situation along with her own uncomfortable feeling "The plaza is completely wrecked!"

Darrell stopped. So what. He wiped his eye, releasing a barely noticeable sigh. He slipped into a seemingly indifferent state.

"You're still here." He said, it was much like an observation. There was a tone of disapproval in his voice, subtle anger and dissapointment.

Careful not to be deterred by his statement, she just carried on:

"Well..." She put on her quizzical manners, smirking as she got up on her board "Duh! Better luck with this next time!" She took off with these words. Not daring to look back, she flew away hurriedly.

Darrell didn't waste a single look on her, only looking down, as he was forced to deal with his inner turmoil.

Later, as he arrived at his office door – he had gotten rid of the delivery boy costume or better the remains of it – he was quite surprised finding Ernesto in his chair.

He turned away from the window, slightly startled at Lord Cowboy Darrell's presence. He immediately jumped to his feet, notably embarrassed "...I was just, uhm...!"

"Ernesto?..." he said confused looking "Where's the lesser Darrell I put..." Darrell stepped on a red piece of metal. Taking a closer look, there were all over the place "...oh."

While Ernesto felt himself under the pressure of an explanation, he took a step aside to make space for his boss to return to his seat. Lord Cowboy Darrell sat down, with his back to the window. The room was enlightened by sunshine...and the burning bodega.

Ernesto's view was caught by a dark spot on Darrell's shoulder. It seemed to be charred. He couldn't help himself observing it for a few seconds, before his brother turned into his direction. Ernesto quickly averted his gaze, starting to pick up the robot parts from the ground.

"How long... was I gone?" He asked. Carrying the parts in his arm along with some papers, he dropped some of them as he stood straight. With Darrell just looking at him through an unbiased eye, he really seemed to hope for an answer. He didn't seem to care about any of the events. Ernesto was confused, also now under the pressure to answer his question. Unsure if he should know that?

"I...don't know, sir," he stammered, clearing his throat as he looked down on his documents "I was just returning to finish the task."

Darrell looked at the papers under his arm.

"Okay." He simply said to which the purple robot went ahead and took a seat opposite to his boss.

"C-continuing list of costumer complaints." Ernesto put his eye on the name of Professor Venomous without having to search. Before he actually continued, his look went out of the window, back at Darrell. He was looking straight at him, or...straight into his direction.

Ernesto looked back at his papers. No. It wasn't his purpose to ask such questions.


End file.
